Fox News Touts Bret Baier ‘No-Holds-Barred’ Interview With Saudi Arabia’s Controversial Crown Prince MBS

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Aleksey Nikolskyi / Sputnik via AP)

Fox News anchor Bret Baier secured an “exclusive” interview with Saudi Arabia’s controversial Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS.

The network called the interview a “pre-taped, no-holds-barred” sit-down covering “a range of topics about the future of the kingdom and relations with the United States.” Fox touted the exclusive as the crown prince’s “first interview with a major American news network since 2019.”

MBS made national news on Sept. 11, 2023, when a 9/11 widow called President Joe Biden’s handshake with the crown prince at the G20 summit, “A slap in the face.” The majority of hijackers in 2001 were from Saudi Arabia, as was terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Saudi government has denied any involvement in the 2001 attack.

MBS is considered a brutal ruler with a history of executing his enemies. They included outspoken Washington Post columnist Jamaal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered at the Saudi Embassy in Turkey in 2018. The White House, which is dependent on the kingdom’s oil reserves, determined that MBS had “immunity” under international law over his role in Khashoggi’s murder.

The Washington Post issued a scathing rebuke in 2022:

While legitimate heads of government should be protected against frivolous lawsuits, the Saudis’ decision to make MBS prime minister was a cynical, calculated effort to manipulate the law and shield him from accountability. By going along with this scheme, President Biden is turning his back on fundamental principles of press freedom and equality. The American people – and those wronged by MBS in Saudi Arabia and around the world – deserve better.

Baier is set to anchor Special Report from Saudi Arabia on Sept. 19 and 20 and will include a “behind-the-scenes look at the kingdom,” plus interviews with other prominent Saudi officials, according to the network.

The MBS interview airs on Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. ET.

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